Adopt a Horned Lizard

Adopt a Horned Lizard

Texas horned lizards are sometime called ’horny toads’, but they are not toads. Although they have round bodies and short snouts that make them look like toads, they are actually lizards. The long spines on their heads resemble horns. The rows of fringed pointy scales down the sides of their bodies are varying shades of brown—sometimes yellowish, reddish, or gray in color with dark blotches on the neck, back, and tail that help them to blend into the desert. Its camouflage is its first line of defense against predators. It can also inflate itself like a balloon, making its scales stick out so a predator will have trouble swallowing it. This lizard can also squirt droplets of blood from its eyes at a predator up to five feet away. The blood contains a chemical that tastes bad to wolves, coyotes and dogs that might want to eat a lizard. NWF works to protect and recover the wild places that sustain wildlife as well as the human spirit. Adopt a horned lizard today!